James Reaney
Encyclopedia
James Crerar Reaney was an influential Canadian poet
, playwright, librettist
, and professor
, "whose works transform small-town Ontario
life into the realm of dream and symbol."
Reaney has won Canada
's highest literary award, the Governor General's Award, three times. He has won the Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama for both his poetry and his drama.
near Stratford, Ontario
on September 1, 1926 to James Nesbitt Reaney and Elizabeth Henrietta Crerar. Almost all of Reaney's poems, stories, and plays are articulations of where he grew up. At a young age he was interested in theatre, and created a puppet show for children while in his early teens.
, receiving his M.A. in 1949. The same year he also received the Governor General's Award
, the first of three, at the age of 23, for his first book of poetry, Red Heart..
Reaney married on December 29, 1951 to fellow poet Colleen Thibaudeau in St. Thomas
. He has three children: two sons, James Stewart (born 1952) and John Andrew (1954), born in Toronto, Canada and a daughter, Susan Alice Elizabeth, born 1959 in Winnipeg, Canada.
After teaching English at the University of Manitoba
from 1949 until 1956, James Reaney returned to the University of Toronto to complete a doctorate awarded in 1958; Northrop Frye
was his thesis supervisor. Also in 1958 Reaney released a second book of poetry, A Suit of Nettles, which again won the Governor-General's Award.
During the 1940s and 1950s Reaney also wrote and published short stories. While not published in book form until years later, his stories were influential in establishing the style of writing later called Southern Ontario Gothic
(later made world-famous by Alice Munro
).
In 1960 Reaney began teaching in the University of Western Ontario
's English Department. Also in 1960 he put out the first issue of his journal,Alphabet: A Semi-Annual Devoted to the Iconography of the Imagination, which he would edit until 1971. This journal published a variety of poets, including Jay Macpherson
, Margaret Atwood
, Al Purdy
, Milton Acorn
, and bp Nichol, and work from such artists as Tony Urquhart
, and Greg Curnow.
)." In 1962
he won the Governor Generals' Award for Poetry or Drama a third time, this time for both his newest book of poetry, Twelve Letters to a Small Town, and his first book of plays, The Kildeer and Other Plays.
Reaney "followed up The Killdeer with Colours in the Dark
(1969), Listen to the Wind (1972), Masks of Childhood (1972) and plays for children." His play Colours in the Dark was produced at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1967.
From 1973 to 1975 Reaney wrote the trilogy The Donnellys, which the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia calls "one of the nation's most important dramas." The three plays debuted at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre
, directed by Keith Turnbull. The St. Nicholas Hotel, Part II of the trilogy, won the Chalmers Award
. The Donnellys toured nationally in 1975, from Halifax to Vancouver
with the NDWT Theatre Company, again with Turnbull directing.
As well, Reaney coauthored several operas with musician John Beckwith
, including Night-Blooming Cereus (1960), The Shivaree (1982), and Crazy To Kill (1988).
Other notable Reaney plays include Names and Nicknames, which premiered at the Manitoba Theatre Centre
in 1963, directed by John Hirsch
and Robert Sherrin); and Alice Through the Looking Glass, which played at the Stratford Festival in 1994.
Reaney also enjoyed painting and drawing and his art works, from the 1940s to 1990s, were put on exhibit at the McMicheal Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg, Ontario in 2008.
James Reaney died on June 11, 2008, in London, Ontario
.
Of his poetry, The Canadian Encyclopedia says: "Reaney's poetry, collected in Poems (1972), has earned him a reputation as an erudite poet at once deriving structures from metaphor, mythology, and a cosmopolitan literary tradition while deeply rooted in a regional sense of place."
Reaney's fiction of the 1940s and 1950s (collectd in the 1994 book The Box Social and Other Stories, was "influential in establishing the style of writing that has since become known as ‘Southern Ontario Gothic’. Margaret Atwood
has remarked that ‘without “The Bully”, my fiction would have followed other paths'.... Playing sophisticated games by switching voice, he achieves a kind of ‘magic realism’, often through the distorted perspective and sense of disproportion of his child narrators."
Except where noted, Bibliography from JamesReaney.com.
Canadian poetry
- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
, playwright, librettist
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, "whose works transform small-town Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
life into the realm of dream and symbol."
Reaney has won Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's highest literary award, the Governor General's Award, three times. He has won the Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama for both his poetry and his drama.
Life
He was born on a farm in EasthopeEasthope
Easthope is a small village and small civil parish in Shropshire, England.Wenlock Edge passes through the parish, to the northwest of the village, along which is Easthope Wood...
near Stratford, Ontario
Stratford, Ontario
Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 32,000.When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was...
on September 1, 1926 to James Nesbitt Reaney and Elizabeth Henrietta Crerar. Almost all of Reaney's poems, stories, and plays are articulations of where he grew up. At a young age he was interested in theatre, and created a puppet show for children while in his early teens.
Poet and story writer
Reaney studied English at University College, University of TorontoUniversity College, University of Toronto
University College is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university's modern collegiate system, and its secularism contrasted with contemporary...
, receiving his M.A. in 1949. The same year he also received the Governor General's Award
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
, the first of three, at the age of 23, for his first book of poetry, Red Heart..
Reaney married on December 29, 1951 to fellow poet Colleen Thibaudeau in St. Thomas
St. Thomas, Ontario
St. Thomas is a city in southern , Ontario, Canada. It is the seat for Elgin County and gained its city charter on March 4, 1881.-History:...
. He has three children: two sons, James Stewart (born 1952) and John Andrew (1954), born in Toronto, Canada and a daughter, Susan Alice Elizabeth, born 1959 in Winnipeg, Canada.
After teaching English at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
from 1949 until 1956, James Reaney returned to the University of Toronto to complete a doctorate awarded in 1958; Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
was his thesis supervisor. Also in 1958 Reaney released a second book of poetry, A Suit of Nettles, which again won the Governor-General's Award.
During the 1940s and 1950s Reaney also wrote and published short stories. While not published in book form until years later, his stories were influential in establishing the style of writing later called Southern Ontario Gothic
Southern Ontario Gothic
Southern Ontario Gothic is a sub-genre of the Gothic novel genre and a feature of Canadian literature that comes from Southern Ontario. The term was first used in Graeme Gibson's Eleven Canadian Novelists to recognize an existing tendency to apply aspects of the Gothic novel to writing based in...
(later made world-famous by Alice Munro
Alice Munro
Alice Ann Munro is a Canadian short-story writer, the winner of the 2009 Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime body of work, a three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction, and a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize...
).
In 1960 Reaney began teaching in the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
's English Department. Also in 1960 he put out the first issue of his journal,Alphabet: A Semi-Annual Devoted to the Iconography of the Imagination, which he would edit until 1971. This journal published a variety of poets, including Jay Macpherson
Jay Macpherson
Jean Jay Macpherson is a Canadian lyric poet and scholar. The Encyclopædia Britannica calls her "a member of 'the mythopoeic school of poetry,' who expressed serious religious and philosophical themes in symbolic verse that was often lyrical or comic."-Life:Jay Macpherson was born in London,...
, Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
, Al Purdy
Al Purdy
Alfred Wellington Purdy, OC, O.Ont was one of the most popular and important Canadian poets of the 20th century. Purdy's writing career spanned more than fifty years. His works include over thirty books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four books of correspondence...
, Milton Acorn
Milton Acorn
Milton James Rhode Acorn , nicknamed The People's Poet by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island....
, and bp Nichol, and work from such artists as Tony Urquhart
Tony Urquhart
Anthony Morse Urquhart is a Canadian painter.He was born in 1934 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. He attended Albright Art School and the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, from 1953 to 1958. He was also elected to study art at the Yale Summer School in 1958.He began his exhibiting...
, and Greg Curnow.
Playwright
For Reaney, the new decade also coincided with "a shift of emphasis from poetry to the public and communal form of drama," starting with The Killdeer. "Though he had been interested in drama since childhood, he was encouraged by a friend to write a piece for the University of Toronto's Alumnae Theatre and the work he created, The Killdeer, launched his drama career (and won a prize in the Dominion Drama FestivalDominion Drama Festival
The Dominion Drama Festival was an organisation in Canada that sought to promote amateur theatre across the country. It lasted, in one form or another, from 1932 until 1978.- Founding :...
)." In 1962
1962 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1962 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Kildare Dobbs, Running to Paradise....
he won the Governor Generals' Award for Poetry or Drama a third time, this time for both his newest book of poetry, Twelve Letters to a Small Town, and his first book of plays, The Kildeer and Other Plays.
Reaney "followed up The Killdeer with Colours in the Dark
Colours in the Dark
Colours in the Dark is a play by James Reaney. It was produced by the Stratford Festival in 1967 and the Vancouver Playhouse in 1969.Colours in the Dark was published by Talonbooks in 1969....
(1969), Listen to the Wind (1972), Masks of Childhood (1972) and plays for children." His play Colours in the Dark was produced at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1967.
From 1973 to 1975 Reaney wrote the trilogy The Donnellys, which the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia calls "one of the nation's most important dramas." The three plays debuted at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre
Tarragon Theatre
The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. Located near Casa Loma, the theatre was founded by Bill and Jane Glassco in 1970. Bill was the Artistic Director from 1971 to 1982. In 1982, Urjo Kareda took over as...
, directed by Keith Turnbull. The St. Nicholas Hotel, Part II of the trilogy, won the Chalmers Award
Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award
The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Awards were a Canadian literary award, given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having at least ten performances in the Toronto area....
. The Donnellys toured nationally in 1975, from Halifax to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
with the NDWT Theatre Company, again with Turnbull directing.
As well, Reaney coauthored several operas with musician John Beckwith
John Beckwith (composer)
John Beckwith, CM is a Canadian composer, writer, pianist, teacher, and administrator.Born in Victoria, British Columbia, he studied piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1945. He received a Mus.B. in 1947 and a Mus.M. in 1961 from the University of Toronto...
, including Night-Blooming Cereus (1960), The Shivaree (1982), and Crazy To Kill (1988).
Other notable Reaney plays include Names and Nicknames, which premiered at the Manitoba Theatre Centre
Manitoba Theatre Centre
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre. Next to the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, MTC has a higher annual attendance than any other theatre in the country...
in 1963, directed by John Hirsch
John Hirsch
John Stephen Hirsch, OC was an Hungarian-Canadian theater director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary, and escaped Hungary during World War Two as a refugee orphan...
and Robert Sherrin); and Alice Through the Looking Glass, which played at the Stratford Festival in 1994.
Reaney also enjoyed painting and drawing and his art works, from the 1940s to 1990s, were put on exhibit at the McMicheal Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg, Ontario in 2008.
James Reaney died on June 11, 2008, in London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
.
Writing
Reaney's complex symbolic and poetic regional drama defies categorizing. Reaney’s plays are a combination of symbol, metaphor, chant, poetic incantation, choral speaking, improvisation, miming, and child play. Reaney depends on the concept that we, the audience, are all “children of an older growth” and his audience have responded to this expectation. The symbolic quest as the children search for truth and end in reconciliation with the adult world are the basis of Reaney’s plays. Critics have called him a colonial, a rationalist and internationalist, a rabid nationalist, a symbolist, and a poet with the myth of coherence who is yet able to say something in an age of the random.Of his poetry, The Canadian Encyclopedia says: "Reaney's poetry, collected in Poems (1972), has earned him a reputation as an erudite poet at once deriving structures from metaphor, mythology, and a cosmopolitan literary tradition while deeply rooted in a regional sense of place."
Reaney's fiction of the 1940s and 1950s (collectd in the 1994 book The Box Social and Other Stories, was "influential in establishing the style of writing that has since become known as ‘Southern Ontario Gothic’. Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
has remarked that ‘without “The Bully”, my fiction would have followed other paths'.... Playing sophisticated games by switching voice, he achieves a kind of ‘magic realism’, often through the distorted perspective and sense of disproportion of his child narrators."
Awards
James Reaney won a number of awards in his lifetime:- elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of CanadaRoyal Society of CanadaThe Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
in 1978 - invested as an Officer of the Order of CanadaOrder of CanadaThe Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
in 1975) - Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama in 19491949 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1949 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the thirteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors. These were the first awards to give a prize for children's literature....
for The Red Heart - Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama in 19581958 Governor General's AwardsIn Canada, the 1958 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the twenty-second such awards. The awards in this period were an honour for the authors but had no monetary prize.-Winners:*Fiction: Colin McDougall, Execution....
for A Suit of Nettles. - Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama in 19621962 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1962 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Kildare Dobbs, Running to Paradise....
for Twelve Letters to a Small Town and The Killdeer and Other Plays - Honorary doctorates from Carleton UniversityCarleton UniversityCarleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
(1975), McMaster UniversityMcMaster UniversityMcMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
(1979), Brock UniversityBrock UniversityBrock University is a comprehensive university located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Brock offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs that include co-op and other experiential learning opportunities to an enrolment of over 17,000 full-time students.The enabling legislation is...
(1991), and the University of Western OntarioUniversity of Western OntarioThe University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
(1992) - Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play AwardFloyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play AwardThe Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Awards were a Canadian literary award, given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having at least ten performances in the Toronto area....
in 1975 for The St. Nicholas Hotel - University of AlbertaUniversity of AlbertaThe University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
National Award in Letters for The Donnellys trilogy.
Poetry
- The Red Heart. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 19491949 in poetryLinks to nations or nationalities point to articles with information on that nation's poetry or literature. For example, United Kingdom links to English poetry and Indian links to Indian poetry.-Events:...
. - A Suit of Nettles. Toronto, Macmillan, 19581958 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Brazilian manifesto for concrete poetry, which focuses on visual and other sensory qualities...
. Porcupine's Quill, 20102010 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 19 - For the first time since 1949, an anonymous black-clad man, known as the Poe Toaster, failed to show up at the tomb of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, early...
. ISBN 0889843309 - Twelve Letters to a Small Town. Toronto: Ryerson, 19621962 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Writers in the Soviet Union this year were allowed to publish criticism of Joseph Stalin and were given more freedom generally, although many were severely criticized for doing so...
. - The Dance of Death at London, Ontario. London, ON: Alphabet, 19631963 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 26 – Raghunath Vishnu Pandit, an Indian poet who wrote in both Konkani and Marathi languages, publishes five books of poems this day* The Belfast Group, a discussion group of poets in...
. - Poems. Toronto: New Press, 19721972 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* John Betjeman becomes Poet Laureate...
. - Selected Shorter Poems Germaine Warkenton ed. Erin, ON: Porcepic, 19751975 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* With the 1974, fall of the dictatorship in Greece, poets, authors and intellectuals who had fled after the coup of 1967 returned, and this year many began publishing in that country.* Brick Books, a...
. ISBN 088878063X - Selected Longer Poems. Germaine Warkenton ed. Erin, ON: Porcepic, 1976. ISBN 0888780907 ISBN 0888780915
- Imprecations: The Art of Swearing. Windsor, ON: Black Moss, 19841984 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*December 19 - Philip Larkin turns down the British Poet Laureateship, and Ted Hughes becomes Poet Laureate....
. ISBN 0887531237 - Performance: Poems. Goderich, ON: Moonstone, 19901990 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg crowned "Majelis King" in Prague on May Day...
. ISBN 0920259324 - Souwesto Home. Stan Dragland, ed. Brick Books, 20052005 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...
. 9781894078436 - The Essential James Reaney. Brian Bartlett, ed. Porcupine’s Quill, 20092009 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 5 – The Turkish government announces it will posthumously restore the citizenship it had stripped from influential poet Nazim Hikmet, a Marxist who died in 1963 as an exile in the Soviet...
).
Plays
- The Killdeer and Other Plays. Toronto: Macmillan, 1962.
- Names and Nicknames (1963) Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1978. ISBN 0889221545
- Geography Match (1967) Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1978. ISBN 0889221537
- Ignoramus (1967) Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1978. ISBN 0889221553
- Colours in the DarkColours in the DarkColours in the Dark is a play by James Reaney. It was produced by the Stratford Festival in 1967 and the Vancouver Playhouse in 1969.Colours in the Dark was published by Talonbooks in 1969....
(TalonbooksTalonbooksTalonbooks is an independent publisher of Canadian literature, whose repertoire features authors writing in the literary genres of poetry, fiction and drama, as well as non-fiction books in the fields of ethnography, environmental and social issues, cultural studies, and literary criticism.The...
, 1969) ISBN 9780889220010 | ISBN 0889220018 - Masks of Childhood. Toronto: New Press, 1972.
- Listen to the Wind. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1972.
- Apple Butter and Other Plays for Children. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1973. ISBN 0889220433
- Wacousta! Wingham, ON: Jubilee, 1974. Erin, ON: Porcépic, 1979. ISBN 088878175X
- Sticks and Stones: The Donnellys, Part I Erin, ON: Porcepic, 1975.
- Baldoon, with C.H. Gervais. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill, 1976. ISBN 9780889840164
- The St. Nicholas Hotel, Wm. Donnelly, Prop: The Donnellys, Part II. Erin ON: Porcepic, 1976. ISBN 19760888780508 ISBN 0888780516
- Handcuffs: The Donnellys, Part III. Erin, ON: Porcepic, 1977. ISBN 0888780524 ISBN 0888780532
- The Donnellys. Erin, ON: Porcepic, 1977. ISBN 0888781172
- The Plays of James Reaney. ECW P, 1977. ISBN 9780920763308
- The Dismissal dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
. (Erin, ON: Press Porcépic/Beach Holme Publishers, 1978. ISBN 0888781474 - Gyroscope Toronto: Playwrights Canada Press, 1983. ISBN 0887543219
- King Whistle! (1980)
- Plays of James Reaney. ECW P, 1985. ISBN 9789996512667
- Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass adapted for the stage. Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 1994. ISBN 0889841470
- Scripts: Librettos for Operas and Other Musical Works John Beckwith, ed. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2004. ISBN 9781552451496
- Reaney Days in the West Room. (drama — 7 plays) David Ferry, ed. (Playwrights Canada Press, 2009)
Fiction
- "The Box Social," Liberty (Toronto), July 19, 1947.
- The Boy with an R in His Hand. Toronto: Macmillan, 1965. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill, 1980. ISBN 0889840318 Juvenile.
- Take the Big Picture. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill, 1986. ISBN 0889840873 Juvenile.
- The Box Social & Other Stories Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 1996. ISBN 088984173X
Non-Fiction
- Halloween (Black Moss Press, 1976)
- 14 Barrels from Sea to Sea. Erin, ON: Press Porcepic, 1977. ISBN 0888781504, 0888781512
Edited
- Major Plays of the Canadian Theatre, 1934-1984 (Irwin,1984)
- Modern Canadian Plays (Talonbooks,1985)
Except where noted, Bibliography from JamesReaney.com.
Discography
- Celebration: Famous Canadian Poets CD Canadian Poetry AssociationCanadian Poetry AssociationThe Canadian Poetry Association began as a grass-roots organization dedicated to promoting the reading, writing, publishing and preservation of poetry in Canada through the individual efforts of members; promoting communication among poets, publishers and the general public; encouraging leadership...
— 2001 ISBN 1-55253-022-1 (CD#4) (with F. R. ScottF. R. ScottFrancis Reginald Scott, CC commonly known as Frank Scott or F.R. Scott, was a Canadian poet, intellectual and constitutional expert. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and its successor, the New Democratic Party...
) - Souwesto Words: 25 poets in Southwestern Ontario Ergo Books 2002 (Poets on the CD: Penn Kemp, John Tyndall, Molly PeacockMolly PeacockMolly Peacock is an American-Canadian poet, essayist and creative nonfiction writer. She is an alumna of Binghamton University.-Career:...
, Emily Chung, Paul Langille, Sheila Martindale, Roy McDonald, Sadiqa Khan, Jan Figurski, Jody Trevail, Beryl Baigent, John B. LeeJohn B. LeeJohn Busteed Lee is a Canadian author and poet who is presently Poet Laureate of Brantford, Ontario. He has received more than 60 prestigious international awards for poetry.- Early life :...
, Cornelia HooglandCornelia HooglandCornelia Hoogland is a Canadian poet. She is currently a professor at the University of Western Ontario and lives in London, Ontario. However, she attributes her childhood on densely wooded Vancouver Island, B.C....
, James Reaney, Colleen Thibaudeau, Michael Wilson, Aimee O'Beirn, Jason Dickson, Marianne Micros, Skot Deeming, Victor Elias, David J. Paul, April Bulmer, Julie Berry, Don Gutteridge)
External links
- JamesReaney.com
- A Suit of Nettles on Google Books.
- Selected Shorter Poems on Google Books.